Second Strike

The developers at Quickspin have created a terrific new pokie which is straightforward, simple to play and has a refreshingly simple graphic display. The game’s developers opted for a wonderfully vintage themed pokie, using the classic fruit symbols and standard gameplay, but with an awesome new bonus feature for a bit of extra drama and suspense, which can also win you a mammoth payout.

The game consists of 5 reels, 3 rows and 10 paylines. The idea is simple, just match any three symbols in a winning combination, or 5 in a single row to claim a larger prize. The game’s uniqueness is provided by its bonus feature: the “second strike” which can turn a small payout into a humongous win.

Quickspin have deliberately chosen to create a game with no complicated backstory or pop culture theme and without any progressive jackpot, instead going to focus purely on the gameplay. The result is a video pokie which offers drama, suspense, and the chance of winning big.

Mr Smith

BetSafe

Bet Victor

Casumo

How to Play

The game has several symbols which will be instantly recognisable to any veteran pokie player, they are:

Cherries

Plums

Grapes

Melons

Bells

Stars

Lucky 7s

Diamonds

First, decide how much money you want to play with, then spin the wheel. The minimum winning combination on a single payline is 3 of the same symbol. There is also a golden “wild” card which acts as a substitute for any other symbol. The wild symbol isn’t a bonus feature and it doesn’t double your winnings, or give you any sort of bonus, it’s just a substitute symbol.

The regular gameplay is very straightforward and typical of fruity video pokies. The payouts are pretty standard and there’s no progressive jackpot. The game has only one bonus feature, but it is enough to provide the game with plenty of thrill and excitement.

Each time you win, you will see a small, highlighted marker running around the outside of the play area. The game’s symbols are arranged in a circle surrounding the play area, in an indiscriminate order. The marker will travel automatically around the play area and will stop randomly on one of the symbols. If the marker lands on the same symbol which was just used in a winning combination, then the game will add more of that symbol to the play area. The amount added depends on how many symbols were used in the original winning combination.

For example, if you have a winning combination of three cherries and the marker lands on the cherry symbol, six more will be added. If the combination had four cherries, then eight more will be added. Basically, the game will add twice as many symbols to the play area than there were in the initial winning combination. Once the new symbols are added, the game then recalculates all the new winning combinations which were just created. This will hugely increase your total winnings and enable you to potentially win an enormous sum. This bonus feature might sound slightly complicated but after playing the game you will quickly understand how it works. There is quite a high variance, and sometimes the marker will be tantalizingly close.

Jackpot

The game has no progressive jackpot and no scatter option. However, the “second strike” bonus feature still gives you the chance of winning a huge payout, although there is quite a high variance. The highest possible win in the game would be landing 5 diamonds in a single row, and then having the marker land on a diamond. In this scenario, the game will add a further ten diamonds to the play area, and all fifteen symbols will be a diamond. As a result, every possible winning combination will be awarded, including 3x 1000 coin payouts.

Mobile Version

The simple graphics and straightforward gameplay make this very mobile friendly, and it is available for play on Android and iOS devices.

Special Features

The game doesn’t have any additional features, apart from the second strike bonus. There are no free plays or scatters. There is a wild card, but it acts only as a substitute and doesn’t give you any additional winnings.

Graphics and Sounds

The game has a purposefully simplistic graphic theme. There is no movie or pop culture based theme or backstory and the colour scheme is undistracting. The background is just a plain purple with a few red and gold patches.

Similarly, the background music is neutral and undisturbing, yet calming and pleasant. The overall impression is that the game’s creators preferred to focus on the gameplay itself, rather than distracting the player with an overly complicated display.

Bottom Line

Quickspin has developed a wonderful video pokie game, with the perfect balance of classical gameplay and a suspenseful bonus feature. Second Strike will tease you and possibly frustrate you at times, but the brilliant simplicity and chances of a huge payout make this game a must play.